


all the strange, strange creatures

by faeriemeliorn (pureblood_whovian)



Series: there's more than one of everything [4]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Doctor Who Fusion, First Meetings, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Swearing, i know nothing about hospitals or medicine and it shows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-23 21:49:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15615762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pureblood_whovian/pseuds/faeriemeliorn
Summary: Alec only wanted to meet Izzy for lunch and figure out how to stop a family blowup at Jace's birthday party, the first public event the Lightwoods are all attending since the divorce. He doesn't expect to end up on the Moon, avoiding intergalactic police that look suspiciously like rhinos and desperately searching for a blood-sucking alien criminal before everyone dies from a lack of oxygen.And he certainly doesn't expect Magnus, the beautiful, impossible man who might be an alien and sets about trying to save the world as if he does it every Tuesday.





	all the strange, strange creatures

**Author's Note:**

> after rewatching dr who for the 5 billionth time in an attempt to take my mind off impending a level results, i decided to write this very self indulgent au. it's actually very worrying to me that i only seem to write fic/get inspired when exams or results are looming. anyways that's enough talk of that before i cry again. 
> 
> inspired by new who, episode 3.01 "Smith and Jones", with bits of 1.01 "Rose", 2.10 "Love and Monsters", 5.01 "The Eleventh Hour" and loads of other references sprinkled about. as a child i was, how you say, entirely obsessed with doctor who. (narrator: she still is lmao).
> 
> title is from the track ["all the strange, strange creatures"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8kpiceEEFs) a god tier song from the god tier [ doctor who s3 soundtrack](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8kpiceEEFs&list=PLFFC809EE8769D05D) by murray gold. man i miss rtd!who

The first brush Alec has with aliens is actually at his old job.  
  
He's the last to leave the office that night and calls out a goodbye to the cleaner. The cleaner doesn't respond, which sometimes happens because he has his earphones in so Alec thinks nothing of it.  
  
He almost jumps out of his skin when the cleaner barrels into him, whispers a desperate "Run!" and continues sprinting away. Alec just stands there, stupidly, until another, unfamiliar man appears from around the corner and also tells him to "Come on, run!"  
  
This man, however, grabs his hand and drags Alec behind him, perhaps because he knows Alec is utterly confused enough to just continue standing there like a moron. He doesn't ask what the _hell_ is making the the noise they're running from are, just keeps going until the man stops a block away from the office.  
  
Alec's about to ask what is going on, but the man smiles brightly and he gets slightly distracted because - woah. He's breathless because of the running, he tells himself. Only the running. He almost doesn't catch what the guy is saying.  
  
"I'd love to stick around, but places to be, Cybermen to stop," the man says. "Sorry about your office, by the way."  
  
Then he leaves, almost vanishes really; there one moment, gone the next. Seconds later, Alec's workplace is on fire.  
  
\---  
  
Alec would really like to know what exactly happened that night but unfortunately, the cleaner knows no more about the situation than he does, so he hits a bit of a dead end almost immediately. He didn't get the mysterious man's name and googling "strange man (blows up offices)" whilst trying to find a new job is hardly going to get him anywhere.  
  
It was just - the whole thing was so weird. Not just the man, but the aftermath; the soldiers with "UNIT" emblazoned on their uniforms, who showed up and questioned him about six times before letting him go. The hard looks he'd been given when he'd said the word 'Cybermen'. He had tried googling them, but nothing concrete had come up.  
  
"I bet you anything he was an alien," says Izzy. Alec's about 75% sure she's one of the regular posters on the conspiracy theory boards but he's too afraid to ask. "All the weird shit that keeps happening everywhere; I'm telling you, it's aliens."  
  
He tries to just forget about it. What else is there to do?  
  
\---  
  
The problem with that is that 'weird shit' keep happening in the next few months. An awful Christmas where Jace and the neighbours stood hypnotised on the roof, a spaceship crashing into Big Ben, plastic figures coming to life in the stores.  
  
He ends up doing something he'll probably be embarrassed about for the rest of his life - he goes to a extraterrestrial believers group that's always being advertised on the conspiracy boards. Alec, who has always been pretty sceptical about aliens, doesn't know how he got to this point and honestly doesn't want to think about it.  
  
The group is in Brooklyn, run by a Clary Fray and a Simon Lewis, best friends since childhood and true believers in all the weird and wonderful. Sometimes, Clary's dad Luke shows up too, talking through 'the science' of it all. Alec goes for two weeks listening to a whole range of stories before he's called upon.  
  
"So, tall guy, what brings you here?"  
  
Alec tells his story. He describes the man in the vaguest terms possible - he remembers bitterly how much Izzy laughed when the one of the first things he'd said to her that night after being released was "he was so hot". He'd been through a traumatic experience, okay?  
  
Clary's face lights up. She pulls a drawing done in pencil out of her bag and shows it to Alec. "Did he look like this?"  
  
"Yeah, actually. Do you know him?"  
  
"Kind of." She puts the drawing down on her lap. "I met him when I was a kid. He's the reason Simon and I started this group."  
  
"You were always making me dress up like him," mutters Simon, a mental image which Alec finds very disturbing and never wants to think of again.  
  
Clary just grins. "He crash landed in my backyard with this old blue box. It made the strangest sound. Said he was an alien on his way to stop some bad guys. I wanted to go with him but he said no, obviously. I was like, eight, and half-asleep." There's a steely look in her eyes, a slight hardness to her voice. "But it happened."  
  
"Did you get his name?" asks Alec.  
  
"No," says Clary and Simon sighs.  
  
"No one ever has. Clary's lucky she even met him for that long; most times we have recorded, he only appears for like five seconds."  
  
Another dead end.  
  
And maybe Alec would have kept looking into it, if he hadn't had to prepare for that job interview  on Thursday, and if Mom hadn't announced the divorce bombshell that weekend, lips pursed and staring hard at his Dad's empty space at the dinner table.  
  
But he doesn't. And aside from the occasional 'alien watch update' from Clary, now a permanent perky presence in his life as his brothers girlfriend, life goes on as normal.  
  
\---  
  
Two years on and Alec is on his way to work when his phone rings. It's Izzy, which he would be happy about, except-  
  
"How do we stop Dad?"  
  
"Hello to you too, Izzy."  
  
He can imagine Izzy rolling her eyes at him. "Hello, big bro. Anyways, Dad is going to bring _her_ and we need to stop him if we don't want a repeat of Easter."  
  
Easter was a complete disaster, but at least it had been a private one. "I know."  
  
"She's superstitious, right? You think she'd believe me if I told her going to the party would bring bad luck?"  
  
"No." It's not that Alec doesn't love his sister but "Didn't we say we'd talk about this at lunch?"  
  
Izzy sighs. "Yeah, I'm just stressed. Work is work and, I really, really don't want anything to happen on Jace's birthday."  
  
Neither does Alec. Not just because of the general headache it would inevitable cause, but because out of all the Lightwood children, Jace probably took the divorce the hardest. And it all would've been fine, if Dad hadn't fucking decided - Well. There was no use dwelling on that now.

"We'll think of something," he promises. "See you at lunch."  
  
"Love you, Alec."  
  
"Love you too. Bye."  
  
It's barely a minute after that his phone is ringing again. Mom. Alec braces himself and answers the call.  
  
"Good," says his mother. "At least you're answering me. Now I don't care what your father does to deal with his mid life crisis in private anymore, but this is Jace's birthday party and I'm not going to have him embarrass us all. Everyone we know is going to be there."  
  
"Mom," he says, tiredly. "I can't stop him from bringing who he wants to his own son's party." He wishes he could.  
  
He hears Marsye take a deep breathe, _that_ one that she does right before she begins a tirade that would fit right in in one of her cases in court and Alec mentally prepares himself. Thankfully, he's saved by an incoming call from Jace.  
  
"Sorry Mom, Jace is calling. I'll call you back, okay?" He hangs up quickly and accepts Jace's call.  
  
"Alec, look, I know you and Iz will be plotting and everything but can't you just tell Mom I don't even want a party?"  
  
"You know there's no way she'd go for that."  
  
"Why can't they just give me the money they're using to throw it? Clary and I could really use it." There's a noise in the background. "Also, what do you think about 'Zach'? That's a cute name for a kid, right?"  
  
"Yeah, sure it's good-" His phone rings again. Dad. _Jesus_ , he's is going to have a headache before he even gets to the office. "Let me call you back, Jace."  
  
Jace is busy insisting to Clary that 'Zach' is a cute baby name so Alec doesn't feel too bad hanging up on him. He takes a moment before picking up again.  
  
"Now you tell your mother, that I am paying for half this party. I am entitled to bring who I like. No one will be be embarrassing anyone."  
  
Before Alec can reply, tell him to tell Mom himself and stop avoiding her calls like a _coward_ , the phone is clearly taken from Roberts hands and then comes an "Alec, Hiiii!"  
  
"Hi, Annamarie," says Alec. She's a nice enough woman, it's just he cares about his mother more.  
  
"Can't talk right now but see you at the party tonight!"  
  
She hangs up. Alec lets out a deep sigh, and puts his phone back in his pocket, half tempted to turn it off. Hopefully someone at the office has aspirin.  
  
\---  
  
"You said meet you at work!" They _always_ meet at the hospital and walk to whatever place has caught Izzy's eye on the way to work that day.  
  
Izzy sighs deeply. "I said meet at the coffee place _near_ work," she says, in a tone that implies Alec is the most idiotic big brother in the world. "Fine, I'll come back. Just tell me your idea now."  
  
Right. His idea. "I was thinking, we tell them different times to come so they can both be there to celebrate but avoid everything. We tell Dad to come at seven, and he'll only stick around for an hour before leaving. So then we can tell Mom eight or  eight-thirty, and problem solved."  
  
Izzy's response is silence. When she eventually responds, after he's called her name a couple of times, she only says "Alec, have you looked at the rain?"  
  
He wonders what the fuck the rain has to do with anything but he glances out the tiny window and sees rain going _up_.  
  
"Alec, do you see it?" Izzy sounds scared. "It's only above the hospital. I don't under-"  
  
The world shakes.  
  
\---  
  
When the impromptu earthquake stops, everything has gone dark. Not just in a power cut kind of way, but outside as well. But it had only been lunchtime.  
  
Alec pulls himself up to his feet, papers scattered across the floor. He needs a place with a bunch of windows. He pushes past panicking people, doctors and patients, eventually reaching a patient ward and looks out the window to see -  
  
The Earth. The Earth, miles and miles away.  
  
The Moon. This hospital is on the Moon. For a moment all he can think is, _I just wanted some lunch_.  
  
He reaches for a window only to have a random doctor grab his arm tightly and cry "No, don't, we'll lose all the air!"  
  
"But, the windows aren't airtight," says Alec. "We should have lost all the air already, so there must be something giving it to us."  
  
"Exactly!" says a familiar voice behind him. Alec turns to see the man from years ago, standing there, looking curiously at Alec and the sights behind him.  
  
He looks exactly the way he does in Alec's memory, in Clary's drawings - that is, so stunning that there may as well be no air in the hospital. His makeup is darker than it was that night, there's fewer rings on his hands, but _still_. He's wearing all black, not in the 'boring way' Izzy says Alec does but in an extremely appealing manner; the fitted black shirt, with the sleeves folded up to just below the elbows and the first few buttons undone, is. Well. It's really something.  
  
The man smiles. "I know you, don't I?"  
  
"You blew up my office," says Alec. _And then I dreamt about you for a little while and kind of tried to track you down_ , he doesn't say.  
  
"Ah yes," says the man. "A nasty run in with some Cybermen. Although it wasn't me who blew it up; technically they blew themselves up." He waves a hand vaguely, his shoulders swaying slightly as he moves closer. "But, no matter. I don't think we've been formally introduced? I'm Magnus."  
  
"Alec." He really thought he'd never see this man, _Magnus_ , again. "We should," he stutters, gesturing behind him. "We should get back to.."  
  
Magnus thankfully understands him. "The pesky Moon situation." He moves past Alec to look through the windows, Alec turning so that he can keep looking at him. "Is there a balcony on this floor?"  
  
"I think I passed one, by a patients lounge."  
  
Magnus looks back at him over his shoulder. "Fancy going out?"  
  
Alec's very proud of the simple "Sure" he manages to get out with his mind running a little wild with the potential other meaning of those words.  
  
"We might die," challenges Magnus. It sounds like a test.  
  
"We might not," says Alec, right back.  
  
It's the the right thing to say. "Then lead the way, pretty boy."  
  
\---  
  
Together, they open the doors to the balcony cautiously. Alec takes in a deep breath, relieved there is, in fact, air and he didn't die immediately. His parents would have killed him. The relief quickly fades away to be replaced with awe.  
  
"It's- it's right there," he breaths out. The Earth, hanging in space, amongst the stars; the grey, rocky surface of the Moon on the edges of his vision.  
  
Magnus hums next to him. "It's beautiful, isn't it?"  
  
"Yeah," says Alec, words escaping him. That's the Earth. His family is down there: his parents fractured relationship, Izzy's tough job and big medical textbooks that keep her up at night, Jace and the new family he's about to start. All these things that are so important to him, and yet they aren't even big enough to be specks on the planets surface.  
  
"I have a party tonight," says Alec. He has a brief, ridiculous thought of calling Izzy - as if there's cell service on the Moon - but what could he say? "My sister's gonna be really. Really."  
  
There's a gentle touch on his elbow. "Hey," says Magnus. "Are you going to be okay?"  
  
"Yeah," says Alec, and he's surprised to realise it's actually the truth. "We could die but, this is the Moon. People would kill for a chance to be up here, my sister included."  
  
"Your sister," says Magnus, tilting his head slightly. "Isabelle?"  
  
"How'd you know that?"  
  
"She was one of the trainee doctors who examined me. She tried very hard to to determine my extremely real and definitely not made up illness. You look alike; lucky guess."  
  
So not telepathic then. But before Alec can have an internal sigh of relief, Magnus smirks. "She was very insistent that she recognised me from somewhere, but didn't remember where exactly. Any ideas why that might be?"  
  
Alec's pretty sure his face is on fire. He only described Magnus to Izzy, Clary's the one out drawing pictures, but. "I might - might have mentioned you. After the office thing." Magnus' smirk grows even more smug, an infuriatingly good look on him. "Its was, it's not like. I mean, you blew my work up!"  
  
"Technically, the Cybermen did," says Magnus, voice teasing. "But I'm very flattered all the same."  
  
" _Anyway_ ," Alec says, gesturing towards the Earth. "I know I said the windows weren't airtight but how come we're still breathing out here?"  
  
Magnus bends down, picking up a little stone from the floor and throwing it. It hits an invisible barrier, rebounding back to the balcony. "There's a bubble surrounding us, keeping the air in. Now who does that?"  
  
"But that makes this the only air we've got," realises Alec. "What if it runs out?"  
  
Before Magnus can answer, there's a loud rumbling noise overhead. Alec looks up to see three large, cylindrical objects flying. Spaceships.  
  
They land in front of the hospital, close enough to see doors at the base of the ships opening up and vaguely humanoid things march out, synchronised and in strict rows. It looks like they're covered in leather.  
  
"What are they?" When Magnus doesn't say anything for a while, Alec glances over at him and Magnus looks angry.  
  
"Judoon."  
  
\---  
  
Magnus crouches behind a tall potted plant that's been placed by the stairs. Alec follows him down, peering through the artificial leaves. The stairs lead down to the lobby of the hospital, where the aliens have already entered and begun harassing patients and staff. He can see Izzy's mentor, Hodge, trying and failing to reason with one of them.  
  
The Judoon, as Magnus had called them, are holding small cylinders that flash a blue light in people's faces, before drawing a cross on their hands. One of them has taken their helmet off and underneath is, is-  
  
"The aliens are _rhinos_?"  
  
"No," says Magnus, seemingly unbothered. "The Judoon are a species that just look like what you call rhinos. It certainly does fits their persona; intergalactic thugs. Rather like a police for hire."  
  
"What are they doing here? Are we trespassing on the moon, or what?"  
  
Magnus looks strangely delighted at the suggestion. "No, but I like that! That would be much easier to fix. No, the Judoon are the ones who brought us here. With the rain. Technically, that's breaking galactic law but I suspect they didn't think anyone here would know any better."  
  
Galactic law? Somehow it's this that tips the balance and convinces him: Magnus really _is_ an alien.  
  
"They're doing a species scan, so they're looking for something non-human, which is bad news for me."  
  
"Can't they tell the difference between different aliens, though?" Magnus had said they were police. "If you're not whatever they're looking for, shouldn't they know?"  
  
"The Judoon are too thick to think like that," says Magnus, before turning to face Alec and frowning a little. "You don't seem surprised I'm an alien."  
  
"How else would you know about these Judoon and galactic law and stuff?" says Alec.  
  
The frown clears from Magnus' face. "True. Though, didn't it ever cross your mind that I might just be talking nonsense?"  
  
"Well if you are, the police rhinos are doing a lot to back up your nonsense."  
  
Magnus grins. "Come on then. We've got police rhinos to stop."  
  
\---  
  
Magnus clicks furiously through the patient records, all of them blank. Alec doesn't know a lot about hospitals past the minor details Izzy tells him everyday but he's pretty sure it's not meant to be like that.  
  
"Where did they all go?" mutters Magnus. He'd said on the way he was 'looking for something strange'. "They should be- Oh no. They aren't that thick. Alexander, tell me they aren't that thick."  
  
"They aren't that thick?" says Alec.  
  
"Oh but they are! They're thick enough to wipe all the records." Magnus throws his hands up. "I'm going to rip this thing apart." He reaches down under the desk and pulls up the computer.  
  
"Izzy's boss' office is near here," remembers Alec. "I can go ask him if he had any strange patients."  
  
"Okay," says Magnus, distractedly, prying the computer open and wrapping wires around his neck.  
  
Alec makes his way to Dr. Pangborn's office, which is on the same floor. He opens the door, calling out "Dr Pangborn, sorry but do you-" before stopping short.  
  
Pangborn is deathly pale, being held down on his knees by a helmet wearing thing that may or may not be human, covered entirely by black leather. In his neck is a straw, an old woman leaning over him and sucking _something_ through it. When she stops and turns slightly to look at Alec, her mouth is smeared red.  
  
Jerking her head towards Alec, she says "Get him."  
  
Alec runs.  
  
He runs until he bumps into Magnus, Magnus saying "I've figured out a way to find them" at the same time Alec says "I found her."  
  
"You what?"  
  
Alec doesn't get a chance to explain because the leather thing rounds the corner. He grabs Magnus's hand and starts running again.  
  
They sprint down the corridors, Magnus leading the way. He pulls Alec sharply into a room and locks the door behind them. The room is seperated into two halves by a glass screen; one section contains an X Ray machine, the other has table with the controls.  
  
"When I say now, press the button!" Magnus starts to fiddle with the machine.  
  
_Which button???_ thinks Alec, hysterically, running over to the controls and searching for instructions. He's flipping through a random manual when the leather thing bursts through the door.  
  
"Now!"  
  
_Fuck it_ , thinks Alec, and presses the big yellow button, which miraculously gets the machine working. The leather thing convulses and on the computer screen, an X-Ray view of Magnus' body appears, showing two hearts; he files that away under 'freak out about later'. When the leather thing drops to the floor, the machine stops.

Alec steps out from behind the screen. "Is it dead?"  
  
"Yes," says Magnus. "I increased the radiation by 3000%. It was just a Slab. Made of leather, all the way through."  
  
"Are you gonna be okay?" Magnus gives him a confused look. "You got blasted with all that too."  
  
The confusion disappears. "Oh yes, I'll be fine, Alexander. We used to play with radiation blocks in the nursery."  
  
"Okay," says Alec, his freak out file getting steadily bigger. "I think I found the alien they're looking for. There was an old lady in Dr Pangborn's office drinking his _blood_."  
  
Magnus frowns. "Drinking his blood? What would-" He snaps his fingers. "Of course! A Plasmavore! Can you take us to his office?"  
  
Alec does, with a only small detour in a room filled with cleaning supplies when they see another leather Slab prowling around; Alec tries very hard not to think about how close Magnus was standing next to him. When they get to the office, Alec opens the door cautiously, but the blood sucking woman is gone. Just Pangborn lying on the floor, skin pure white.  
  
Magnus kneels by Pangborn and closes his sightless eyes. "Definitely a Plasmavore. She drained him dry."  
  
"But why? Isn't she supposed to be hiding?"  
  
"Plasmavores assimilate blood. If she drinks a humans, she'd register as human on the Judoon's scans. They'll never find her." Magnus runs a hand through his hair. "So they'll either find and execute me, or they won't find anything and execute the entire hospital for aiding and abetting the escape of a fugitive."  
  
"That's..bad," says Alec. It feels like a bit of an understatement.  
  
There's a distant bang, and then the sound of a Judoon saying "Prepare to be scanned." They're on the same level.  
  
"And that's even worse," says Magnus, rising to his feet. "We need to move."  
  
\---  
  
"Alright," says Magnus, walking quickly down the corridor away from the sounds of scanning. "I have a plan, but I need your help."  
  
"Sure," says Alec. "What do I need to do?" The marching sound is getting louder and louder.  
  
"I need you to distract the Judoon while I find the Plasmavore. I can deal with her."  
  
"Uh, I can try, but I don't think they'd listen to anything I have to say. They seem one track mind kind of guys."  
  
"They are," says Magnus. "But this should work." He stops walking, turning to face Alec fully. Then he takes Alec's hand and presses the most gentle kiss on it, just a brush of his lips. Alec's brain briefly stops working, his eyes stuck on his own hand even though Magnus has already let go.  
  
"- scan will have traces of non-human, so they'll have to do a full scan on you. But they won't hurt you, I promise."  
  
Alec pulls himself together, looking away from his hand to Magnus' face. "I trust you."  
  
Magnus gives him a small smile. "Good luck."  
  
\---  
  
The full scan feels incredibly long when the Judoon have him backed him up into the wall of the corridor. But Magnus was right - they don't hurt him. He just gets an uncomfortably close look at one of their faces.  
  
"Scan complete. Human, with elements of non human contact." They draw a cross on his hand and give him a laminated square with unfamiliar markings.  
  
"What's this?"  
  
"Compensation."  
  
They continue marching, Alec following and trying to explain he knows who they're looking for, but they don't listen. "I'm telling you, I know who you want!"  
  
They turn a corner and Alec sees a blue light from one of the rooms. Somehow he just knows that's where Magnus and the Plasmavore are. What if he's not done yet, and he still needs Alec's 'distraction'?  
  
Alec sprints in front of the Judoon, stopping in front of the door the light is coming from, blocking their way. "Just listen," he says, "The alien you're looking for is-"  
  
Next thing, he's on the floor, Judoon moving into the room. He scrambles to his feet, shoulder aching from where they pushed him, and goes into the room himself.  
  
Through the Judoon, he can see an ominously glowing MRI machine but more importantly, Magnus on the ground, unconscious and pale. The old woman is standing over him, holding a purse, wiping at her mouth. Abruptly, Alec realises what she must have been doing, what Magnus walked into and can only think _no_.  
  
Alec tries pushing past the Judoon, getting stuck amongst them. There's a blue light illuminating Magnus' face as one of them must be scanning him. "Non-human located."  
  
"No!" shouts Alec. God, Magnus could be dead and all for nothing. "No it was _her_. She's the one you're looking for. She drank his blood!"  
  
"What are you talking about? I'm human, dear," she says, holding up her hand, marked with the cross. Alec's eye catches on the small specks of red still around her mouth. Magnus' blood.  
  
"Wait a minute," says Alec, brain working faster than his mouth. "You drank his blood?" He grabs a scanner from the Judoon belt in front of him, pressing what is hopefully the right button. A blue light flashes on her face.  
  
"Scan all you like," she says smugly. "I'm perfectly human."  
  
The scanner stops and Alec's heart sinks.  
  
 A Judoon growls loudly. "Non-human."  
  
"What?" she says, indignant and the slightest bit scared. "What do you mean? I'm as human as they come."  
  
"Full scan," says a Judoon, and then they're all scanning her. "Species: Plasmavore. Wanted for the murder of the Princess of Padrivole Regency Nine. Sentence: execution." They all draw their guns.  
  
She moves behind the glass screen, pulling a wire out of the machinery. The MRI scanner starts crackling violently. "You'll all burn with me!" she shouts, as they aim. Alec squeezes his eyes shut. "Burn in-"  
  
When Alec opens his eyes, she's gone. The Judoon holster their guns. "Case closed."  
  
"Wait," says Alec, as they begin to march out. "The scanner, she did something."  
  
One Judoon stops and scans the machine. "Electrical pulse will destroy life on this planet and approximately half of the planet below. Not our jurisdiction." And then he continues on his way out with the rest of them, utterly disinterested.  
  
"You can't just leave!"  
  
Alec drops to his knees next to Magnus, who looks so pale. He checks for a pulse and doesn't find one, not that he even knows he's looking in the right place. Would CPR even work on him?  
  
There's nothing else to try so Alec starts, trying to remember everything Izzy taught him. He's two repetitions in when he recalls-  
  
"Oh _fuck_ ," he breathes. "Two hearts."  
  
He starts up again, forcing himself not to panic over the increasing noise of the MRI machine. The adrenaline is starting to wear off and Alec's not sure how much longer he can keep going without collapsing himself. Even if they turn the scanner off, he bets the Judoon are such assholes they'll just leave them all to die on the Moon.  
  
The machine crackles loudly. Alec stops the compressions and takes one deep breath, leaning down to give it to Magnus.  
  
Finally, finally, Magnus coughs violently, eyes fluttering open.  
  
_Oh thank god_ , Alec thinks, before the lack of oxygen suddenly slams into him and he chokes on his next breath, slumping against the floor. He can see Magnus prop himself up on his elbows unsteadily, look around the room confusedly, from the glowing MRI machine to the cracked glass to Alec, who really wants to pass out but he needs - he needs to tell Magnus -  
  
He manages to cough out "The scanner" before everything goes black.  
  
\---  
  
Izzy hugs him so hard he can barely breathe. "Oh god, Alec I was so worried! The police weren't saying anything, you all just disappeared! I called Mom and she was crying! What happened? People kept saying it must be aliens! Did aliens kidnap you? Where _were_ you?"  
  
She's not really expecting an answer judging by the way she continues rambling, which is a good thing because how does he even begin to explain any of it? _I helped the mysterious man who blew up my work two years ago find a vampire alien? Also, his name is Magnus and he kissed my hand?_ The whole thing is already starting to feel like a wonderful hallucination.  
  
When he'd woken up, Magnus hadn't been there. Alec had been lying on a couch in a paitent's lounge somewhere, and spent an embarrassingly long time thinking about how Magnus must have carried him while a doctor checked his vitals. He'd briefly scanned the crowds outside for Magnus the hospital before Izzy tackled him but nothing.  
  
"Clary said it must be aliens! Was it aliens?"  
  
_There's nothing to be disappointed about._  
  
\---  
  
"I am not listening to this anymore!" Annamarie moves quickly, wobbling only slightly on her heels on the pavement outside. The night air is cool as the Lightwood family drag their dirty laundry out onto the streets outside the party.  
  
Robert chases after her, trying to sound soothing. "Darling, don't do this. Come back inside."  
  
The plan had not worked, mainly because the whole 'hospital disappearing with Alec inside' incident had meant no one had actually executed said plan. It would have worked, thinks Alec bitterly.  
  
"Guys," says Jace, looking as exhausted as Alec feels. "Can't we all just leave it?"  
  
"Dad started it," says Izzy, her arms crossed.  
  
" _Izzy_ ," groans Alec. He knew it was only a matter of time before Izzy abandoned her Switzerland attitude for tonight, but she did have to choose right now?  
  
"What? He did! He brought it up!"  
  
"Whatever. I'm not dealing with - " Jace waves his hands around vaguely - "whatever this is." He turns and walks back into the party, looking despondent.  
  
"And then you just accuse Alec of making the whole thing up!" snaps Maryse at Robert. Alec decides not to point out she also, albeit more quietly, thinks this. He hasn't even told his family most of the story yet-nothing about Magnus, just the fact that they were on the Moon - but it was clear she wasn't really convinced.  
  
"They were drugged! It said so on the news!"  
  
"Since when do you watch the news?"  
  
Annamarie, clearly tired of watching the argument, turns on her heel and walks off. For a moment, there's silence, the family just staring after her.  
  
"Mom, please," says Izzy, pleadingly. "Let's just go back inside, Jace and Clary are-"  
  
"Annamarie, come back here!" Robert starts chasing after her again. "I'm putting my foot down!"  
  
"Oh yes, run off, why don't you," seethes Marsye, quietly enough that it could almost be just to herself. "God forbid you think of your family, of someone someone other than yourself for once." She stalks off rapidly in the other direction, Izzy on her heels.  
  
Well. Still better than Easter.  
  
Alec runs a hand over his face, trying to decide who to deal with first - it's a toss up between Mom and Jace - when he sees something, or someone, in the corner of his eye.  
  
Magnus.  
  
Alec blinks multiple times to make sure he's not seeing things. But, no. It's really Magnus, leaning against the wall, smiling. He smiles wider at Alec's prolonged staring and then pushes himself off the wall, disappearing into the alleyway.  
  
Of course Alec has to follow.  
  
When he turns the corner, Magnus is leaning back against a large blue wooden box, arms crossed over his chest loosely.  
  
"Hi," says Alec. He knows he has a dopey grin on his face but can't summon the urge to control it.  
  
"Hello, Alexander." Magnus doesn't say anything else, just stands there looking spectacular, waiting for Alec to break.  
  
So naturally Alec has to blurt out "So what species are you?" and then promptly hopes he dies.  
  
Luckily Magnus doesn't look offended, only amused. "I'm a Time Lord."  
  
Alec desperately wishes he knew what the fuck that meant, just so he wouldn't sound so stupid saying "Oh. That's nice." Clary and Simon would probably have something better to say.  
  
Magnus' smile grows wider. "Yes, I suppose it is."  
  
It is, and surely Magnus has better things to be doing than standing in this dingy alleyway with Alec, so he has to ask. "How come you're here?"  
  
Magnus blinks. "I wanted to see you."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"You saved my life, up there," says Magnus, fiddling absentmindedly with a cuff on his ear. "I wanted to thank you."  
  
"Thank _me_?" Alec blurts, utterly disbelieving. "I just did some really, really bad CPR on you. You're the one who knew how to stop her, and you stopped the whole hospital and half the planet from blowing up. We should all thank _you_."  
  
Magnus looks - Alec isn't really be sure, but he would say shocked. As if the concept of being thanked is alien to him. It doesn't make sense to Alec. There must be entire planets who owe gratitude to this impossible man.  
  
"Still," says Magnus, after a moment. The easy smile is back on his face. "I also came to ask you something." He taps the wooden box he's leaning back on with a hand clad with rings. "What would you say to a trip?"  
  
"A trip? Where?"  
  
"Anywhere you want. Mars, Woman Wept, Raxacoricofallapatorius.... Anywhere at all."  
  
"In that box?" asks Alec, sceptical. It looks old and battered enough to fall apart if someone breathed too vigorously near it.  
  
Magnus laughs. "It has more to it than meets the eye," he says mysteriously.  
  
Alec huffs. "Are Time Lords always this cryptic?"  
  
"I'm not being cryptic, Alexander." Magnus sounds like he's trying to suppress another beautiful laugh and God. Alec wants to, really really wants to.  
  
"I can't," he says, ruefully. "My family - I can't just leave them. And my life as well, I've got a job and bills and -"  
  
Magnus stops him with a finger hovering just above his lips, suddenly very close but just shy of touching. Alec tells himself its ridiculous to feel so flustered about this when he's techinally given, albeit poorly executed, mouth to mouth to this guy. _Oh no, Lightwood, don't think about his mouth, he's talking-_  
  
"I understand," says Magnus, eyes shining. _Oh fuck, maybe Time Lords are telepathic?_ "And while that's very responsible of you, I did say Time Lord. As in, species very experienced with time travel."  
  
Oh. "You're serious?" asks Alec, praying he doesn't sound as desperately hopeful as he feels. "You, you could just-"  
  
"Take you all around the universe and have you back  tomorrow morning? Yes, I could."  
  
Magnus takes a step back and turns, opening the door to his strange little box. A soft golden light spills out the doors, illuminating Magnus in a glow. He holds out a hand. "Just one trip."  
  
When Izzy had turned eighteen, she'd managed to convince her siblings to take her skydiving. Alec's not afraid of heights, but he'd felt jumpy the whole flight up, his stomach fluttering when he'd looked out at the vast expanse of the sky. Nothing compared to the enormity of what's being offered to him now.  
  
His job, his family, his life, are all waiting for him. But in the morning, whenever that morning comes.  
  
Alec takes Magnus' hand and jumps.

**Author's Note:**

> cheesy endings? i love them! im very tempted to make this its own series. there are plenty of other episodes/concepts i would love to insert malec into (the thought of the impossible planet/satan pit, with an alternating pov wont leave me alone lol....), i've hardly touched my top 10 fav eps. but i'm very flaky and i always only ever write like first meetings/ pre relationship so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> pls let me know what you think!


End file.
